Time flies, and we’re approaching the end of the semester! This is our penultimate week, but it’s kind of like our last week of class content since Week 14 is for closing remarks, final questions, and goodbyes. As such, this is the week for writing and revising. So, here are your responsibilities for the week!
- Reading: “Did I Plagiarize?” Flowchart (D2L)
- Reading: Purdue OWL Quotation Guidelines
- Reading: Purdue OWL Paraphrasing Guidelines
- Reading: Little Red Schoolhouse Handout (D2L)
- Reading: Purdue OWL Signal Phrases
- Writing: Essay 3 Phase 2 Peer Review due by 5pm on Friday 4/23
- Writing: Essay 3 Phase 2 with reflective note about peer feedback due by 5pm on Friday 4/23
- Writing: Unit 3 Reflection due by 5pm on Friday 4/23 (Slack #general, as a reply to the prompt I’ll post on Tuesday)
Logistical Announcements
If you submitted a revision of a Unit 1-2 essay draft that received a + score to me by email by 5pm on Friday 4/16, I’ll be letting you know what your final score is by next Wednesday at the latest. Remember that resubmission does not guarantee the changing of a + to a ★ score. Students who met with me to discuss their drafts and made multiple revision attempts are more likely—given that labor and synchronous guidance—to receive a ★.
If you have one + score by the end of the whole semester (not counting the Final Portfolio), you’re still eligible for a B+. Two + scores, depending on your other labor for the course, lands you somewhere between a B- and a C-range grade. If you want to discuss the specifics of the rescore, you can set up a meeting with me for Wednesday or Thursday of next week. I’ll be posting estimated final grades by 4/26, once I’ve scored your Phase 2 drafts.
If you received an Incomplete grade on Essay 3 Phase 1, I will accept one revision only, and you need to submit that revision by 5pm on Friday 4/23 for a chance at a Complete grade. If you receive a + on Essay 3 Phase 2, I will accept one revision only, and that revision must be submitted by Wednesday 4/28. All revisions must be emailed to me.
ZERO TOLERANCE FOR PLAGIARISM. As a reminder, if you plagiarize from secondary sources, you automatically receive a zero on the assignment that can’t be revised or resubmitted.
OFFICE HOURS. My last day for meetings will be Thursday 4/29, so plan accordingly. I will be on Slack sparingly until 5/2 but will likely not be able to answer complex substantive questions at that point.
WRITING CENTER. If you did not go to the Writing Center for the required number of hours (1 hour for a B-range grade, 2 hours for an A-range grade), your final grade will be impacted. If you attended Writing Center workshops or met with me a number of times, I will consider that compensatory labor. If you exceeded 2 hours at the Writing Center, I’ll consider it labor that compensates for a late assignment or a missed Slack post.
MISSED WORK. Be accountable for work you have missed that could not be made up. This includes peer review—which was not accepted late—and essay drafts that weren’t submitted or egregiously didn’t meet the assignment parameters.
Live Session Agenda
In our live session on Tuesday 4/20, we will do the following:
- Go over logistical reminders
- Go over criteria for completing course evaluations
- Introduce the Final Portfolio
- Go over Essay 3 Phase 2, particularly with regards to source evaluation, close reading, and synthesis
- Review plagiarism and zero-tolerance policy
- Address questions about Little Red Schoolhouse worksheets on grammar and mechanics
Workshop Instructions
As usual for workshop, share your work in a Google Doc for Essay 3 (you’ll save your work as an MS Word/PDF file to submit to me on D2L by Friday). In addition to the work of drafting plan for a couple of hours to be able to do all the work asked of you, which will as before include reviewing each other’s work and completing an Essay 3 Phase 2 Peer Review Form for each of your workshop members. Here are the general instructions again as a refresher:
- Don’t talk about your essays! First, read without commenting.
- Read and make marginalia using the Comments feature. Underline/highlight what you think the controlling idea is, make notes about what you think the writer’s aims are, etc.
- Complete the “Essay 3 Phase 2 Review” Google Form.
- After receiving feedback via email from your peers, read what they read, and discuss any questions you have together as a group. You may want to ask questions about what their comments mean, how they suggest enacting those comments, collaboratively write your way towards enacting those comments, and so on.
- After workshop, write a brief post-workshop reflection letter (~500 words) to me summarizing the feedback you were given by your peers, identifying what you prioritized for revision and why, explaining which assignment parameters you think you met and which you think you need to keep striving towards. You may also reflect on the reasoning behind the decisions you made in revising your draft for submission to me: any regrets or difficulties you dealt with, your attitude towards the assignment and feedback, any burdens of college or life that crept into your work, and so on. Include this letter as a paragraph at the end of your draft–in other words, you’ll submit it as one file on Blackboard by Friday at 5pm.
Make sure to coordinate with each other regarding when you’ll post your drafts to Slack and when you’ll have your peer review completed by.
Submit your draft to me by Friday at 5pm as a Microsoft Word document or PDF on D2L.
Looking Ahead…
Tuesday 4/30 is our last live session of the semester. That class will be dedicated to addressing any logistical issues that have come to my attention and answering any questions you have at that point about the Essay 3 Phase 2 General Feedback and the revisions for the Final Portfolio. Your Final Portfolio is due at midnight on 5/2. I will not be accepting late submissions except in the event of extenuating circumstances, and lateness may mean I won’t be able to submit your grade by the end of the semester, so pace yourself in your revision process.